Ntb-National Tire & Battery

Fast, friendly, professional! I had a nail in my tire and needed my spare put on. I was in a time crunch because I had to pick up my son from daycare. They changed my tire for me in under 20 minutes and didn’t charge me! I will definitely be going back for future car needs!

Very pleased with my service here, nice clean waiting room — complementary kuerig coffee, H20, cable TV, very friendly staff– quick efficient service

Scammers. Baits and Switch place!!!
This place advertise the 19.99 oil change. When we took the car in they told us that 2009 Corolla with over 100k miles MUST run nothing but Synthetic oil for almost $ 50. When I told them how we ran nothing but 5w20 for the life of the car, the guy named Junior became very defensive and started telling me how you need 0w20 or 5w20 synthetic and refuses to service the car otherwise. This place is a absolute bait and switch scheme. DO NOT TAKE IN YOUR CAR. I would rather walk 50 miles a day than deal with those scammers.
Never again.

I really want to like this store, but turnover and poorly trained techs keep me from doing so. Took in one of our cars for a front end alignment (after having had front wheel bearings replaced). The alignment took five hours (the tech didn’t realize he could adjust camber), so he couldn’t get it into spec. I finally realized what he was trying to do and told him how to do adjust the camber. On the drive home the steering wheel was cocked to the left to go straight, the car veers to the right, and it crabs. Should have gone to the dealer.

TLDR; See the summary at the bottom if you don’t want the full story.
I’m not a big reviewer. I’m making an exception here because I had the worst and best experience the last couple weeks.
It started a couple years ago when I purchased some custom rims for my PT Cruiser, nothing fancy but nicer than the cheap hubcaps I had. They installed them and provided me with this junky spline lug nut socket, they said to order a new one would cost another $ 50 bucks, I passed. Fast forward a couple years and the chrome open-​ended lug nuts had rusted (wheels were not chrome so why the lug nuts?) and my mechanic stripped the cheap poorly fitted socket. I called NTB and spoke with the General Manager James H. (I think he went by Joe); my friend told me there was a threaded tool you can use to remove the custom lug nuts, Joe told me they had one but it was broken so I should find someone else to do it for me. So I went all over town and no one could help, the lug nuts were thin walled and splined and their tools couldn’t do it, furthermore they didn’t have lug nuts that would fit my wheels. I found one mechanic that offered to cut them off for $ 100 + parts (so $ 150 — $ 200).
So I headed to NTB to order the lug nuts. I walked in and the staff were friendly but not very knowledgeable. So they grabbed Joe the GM to help order the lug nuts. I waited for 30 minutes while Joe was on a call… He stuck his headed out of the office and in a condescending voice instructed the gentleman helping me to enter his office. I heard Joe burst out in laughter, they came back and Joe says, «Didn’t I speak with you on the phone this morning, I though I told you there was nothing we can do for you.» Those were not his exact words, my rendition is probably too polite. We exchanged words for a moment, basically him trying to tell me to kick rocks and me explaining that at the very least I needed to order a replacement socket or lug nuts from him. He tells me that every set of lug nuts has a unique spline pattern and so ordering the socket is not possible, we’d have to order a new set, $ 50, ok. I asked about getting something that wouldn’t rust, «nope this is all they have». So I continued with the order.
While I waited I listened as Joe told another customer they were not able to get a certain tire for him, the customer let Joe know he would take his business else where. Joe, with me standing 4 feet away, explained to the employee that his mistake was telling the customer the cheaper tire was available for order, he should have told the customer that it was not available but that they could order a newer more expensive tire in the same line. Joe then stormed back to the installation bay and proceeded to yell at the employees in the back. Wow, this guy was unreal, I wanted to rip into him then and there but I figured that this jerk would probably make it a personal mission to delay the parts I needed. So I kept my mouth shut and planned to write a scathing review on Unilocal.
One week later the parts arrived and I headed to NTB hoping I would not run into Joe. I walked in and all the junk they had on the walls was pulled down and I was greeted by a pleasant and slightly flustered gentleman named Chris. He apologized over and over as he looked for the parts I ordered. He explained that they were inexplicably understaffed this morning, it was his first day, and he would get this sorted out immediately. I chitchatted with Chris for a bit and finally asked, «What is your position here?» He responded that he was the new General Manager… I grinned from ear-​to-​ear and laughed as I explained to him the ludicrous experience I had endured at this store. He apologized, gave me a quick history of the story and explained that he was here to turn this place around. His stores are 5 star and he’s going to resurrect this one. He informed me (before I even asked) that the lug nuts I ordered also came close-​ended and black so they would not rust… I could not believe it, I explained that I had asked about this very thing. He apologized and ordered the replacement lug nuts at no charge and let me drive away with the chrome one. We’d close out the order when the new lug nuts came in, oh and by-​the-​way the sockets are custom per manufacturer not per individual set of lug nuts.
TLDR;
My experience here was night-​and-​day. One week I was dealing with a rude, lying, thief of a General Manager and the next I was speaking with Chris who bent over backwards to make sure I was happy with my experience there. I’m giving this place a second chance and I suggest if you’ve had the displeasure of walking through those doors in the last three years you drop by and say hi to Chris. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

I have been a customer at NTB for years. I have always been patient with the long waits and lack of employees. So many times checking out took forever because the only person who could help me was also apparently the only one who could answer the phone. So I was thrilled to find their online scheduling service because I hoped as someone who has things scheduled back to back that it would keep things moving. My online appointment was at 10:30. I then realized that it might take longer to get done and I had something scheduled for 11:30 so I called and had them change it to 10am. It had been open online so I knew it was still available. Got myself moving early arrived on-​time for my appointment only to find that lo-​and-​behold «Sorry Ma’am you are not even in our system» I was livid and very upset. I kinda lost it. Especially when he proceeded to tell me that I was welcome to wait TWO HOURS and then they could get me in. So after I asked why I was being punished for their incompetent employees and why it was ok that they lied to me… I tried to schedule something else. Next appointment that I could make wasn’t until 3 days later. Not good with a slow leak tire. They all were passing the buck. «I wasn’t here when you called to change it so I cannot help you» Got on the phone. Called Cassidy’s down the the street and I will never be going back to NTB.

I wished I checked Unilocal before I even contacted this place, lesson learned. So they had the best deal on tires, or so I thought, so I had them order them. Put my $ 150 deposit, 3 days later the manager called me in the morning says they are in, asks if I can come in at 2pm. Of course not I’m working like 95% of other people are. I schedule for 6:30 that night. I come in, manager gone, employee says I’m not even in the computer. I reschedule for Sunday at 10am, manager again says I’m not scheduled. I ask him why this keeps happening, he says with the weather he’s 4 days full. That’s not an excuse, if you’re so backed up then don’t schedule me. So I leave the car, wife has to come pick me up. Oh and he went ahead and up sold me a $ 60 alignment job, which somehow turned into a $ 90 alignment when I picked it up. Oh and the manager will forget multiple times that you put a deposit down on the tires, probably wanting to pocket an extra $ 150. I’ll never go to any NTB based on reviews from others in the area, I don’t understand how this chain stays in business? If you do have the guts to use this place, get everything in writing because the prices will change constantly from what they say on the phone to actual printout.

wish I oculd give this place no stars, this place needs to be shut down anyone that isnt happy with this place call 1−800−423−5464 and have your complain filed.
I called on friday after noon and explained the tires i needed, they were white lettering good years, i was only replacing two at the time and wanted them all to match of course. on the phone he says let me go in back and make sure i have them i said ok, he come back and says i have those in stock so i make appointment for next morning.
after i get there they put my car up in the air take off the 2 tires, puncher a hole in the side of one of them. few mins later he comes out and tells me he doesnt have the tires i want, now they already damaged one of mine and now tell me they dont have the ones i want, they are liars and theives, DO NOT GO HERE

LISTEN TO THE REVIEWS!!!
I was STUPID and I disregarded the reviews here because most of them had to do with other problems with the car and I just needed an oil change.
They will RIP YOU OFF for even an oil change.
What kind of oil change costs $ 70!!!
AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS!!!
If you’re thinking about going here– DON’T!
Do NOT waste your hard earned money here! Especially when there are always specials and coupons in the mail for $ 20 oil changes!
Do your research and find an HONEST and FAIR mechanic for your car! This place needs to be shut down!

You wanna get ripped off? Then don’t read this review!
Otherwise, in a nutshell, DO NOT bring your car to this place, not even for tires or batteries!
I took my car there because of a good deal on oil change and so I had them look at a misfired engine problem. They charged me over $ 100 to diagnose the problem only to tell me that they couldn’t really tell which cylinder was misfiring. But based on the look of one dirty spark plug and one very dirty ignition coil, they said it was time to replace them all. Boy, that recommendation had highway robbery written all over it!
So for an 8-​cylinder engine, replacing ALL 8 spark plugs and ALL 8 ignition coils including labor, their delusional estimate came out to be nearly $ 1,600! I told them no freaking way but to ease my pain, they kindly offered their 1-​year interest free NTB credit card and enticed me with a 10% off deal on this outrageous estimate. On top of that, they also pushed me to change the steering fluid and flush out the brake fluid. They wanted badly to separate my money from my pocket.
The guy in charge, a short old cranky ball buster, was actually telling me that I didn’t know what I was doing and should listen to his advice. I must have worn my dumb hat that day as he took me for a dumb ass.
Well, this story has a nice ending… I drove my car right out of there and searched on Unilocal for help. I found CARSS, a 5-​star rated auto repair shop, and got the same problem fixed for less than $ 200!
So thank you Unilocalers and thank you CARSS. If Unilocal has a zero-​star rating, this NTB place would definitely get it!

Everytime you go there for one thing, you better be prepared for them to try to upsell you on 4 other things they’ll tell you are wrong with your car. I won’t go there again. Got tired of that. Not just a little bit of upselling, but a lot.
Last time I was there they said I needed a brand new radiator because it… Ahem…had a leak. What they didn’t know is that the radiator was only 3 years old as I just recently put a brand new radiator in after hitting a deer. Not to mention I wasn’t experiencing any issues with my car overheating, no leaking. nothing. They consistently do this. Also, they leave your car a greasy mess when they turn it back over to you. Won’t go back. Call me crazy.

My mom is in desperate need of new tires — she has about 20% tread left and has already slid, so I refused to let her drive her car until they were replaced. Thinking she still had 2 different sized tires (14″ and 15″) on her car, I took a set of good 14s I had, put them in her trunk, and told her that a shop just needed to mount new tires on the 14s she’s driving on. I gave her the tire size (185/​65/​r14).
This past Monday she ended up at NTB and was «helped» by Chris. Things were so bad from the get-​go that she started texting me almost as soon as she got there. When she first pulled in and tried to explain my instructions about the tires, Chris started exclaiming that he can’t put on the tires that she brought if they’re more than 5 years old. He never asked her how old they were or inspected the tires — just started getting up in arms about the tires themselves. (They’re 2 years TOPS and essentially new — they’ve been sitting in the garage and still have the «nubbies».)
Things continued to decline with communication+ customer service, so my mom stopped texting me as she had been and called instead. Chris ended up talking with me on the phone, and I was trying to explain what needed to be done. He was very short and rude to me too. When I realized that her original tires were both 15s and not still ¹⁴⁄₁₅ like I thought, I told him I would see if I had a set of 14″ steelies at home. He huffed and told me «Well, we close in an hour.» It was 7:45 at that point, and they close at 9. (Crystal Lake’s 10 – 15 minutes away.)
I checked, but for some reason only had 15″ steelies. (Shiznit, what happened to my 14s?!) Chris said he had no 14″ steelies in stock and would have to order them. I told my mom to forget it– she and I had already dealt with Chris being extremely rude to both of us.
If Chris were a better salesman, he may have tried to save the sale by suggesting to my mom that she buy 4 new 15″ tires; he could mount them right there. He never did.
The customer may not always be «right,» because I obviously goofed in assuming my mom’s tire sizes. (My mistake.) But there is a manner with which you address anyone– retail or not. Customer service is a HUGE determining factor in our choosing to patronize one business over another, and needless to NTB didn’t get my business today when I got replacement 14″ steelies.

We took one of our fleet vehicles here because it was close to the technicians home. Just came in for an oil change and waited excessively for them to come back. Well they told us we needed a lot of work. New struts, back brakes and back shocks. They quoted us 1400.00. Our tech said no thanks and just wanted the oil change. We looked at our service records the next day and found that the shocks, brakes and struts had all been replaced within the last 12 months.
I’d say you better get a second opinion before you lets these guys do any work.
And that reminds me of an incident at this same store about 6 years ago. We went in to have a battery replaced and after leaving the car with them, they said we needed some extra work done. We told them not to do any other work but change the battery and we would get a second opinion from our primary repair shop. Suddenly their story changed and the car would be ready for the price they originally quoted. Turns out they crossed the leads on the battery. It damaged the cd player (didn’t discover this until later).

Came in at 130pm on a Sunday. They said they were understaffed and to come back. They didn’t even start on our car until 5 minutes until 6 (closing). My boyfriend noticed one of the tires they changed were hissing. They took the car back in and came back, said it was normal and made up an excuse which my boyfriend knew wasn’t true. but we went home. The next morning, that tire was completely flat. I called them this morning and told them what happened. They said they would call me back. It is now 30 minutes later and no call back. I need to get to work and school! A waste of 5 and a half hours on a Sunday, now I am going to miss a day of work.

It was a little difficult for me to step outside of my Jiffy Lube comfort zone. I mean, they’re all I’ve known for years. But after my last visit at Jiffy Lube cost me forty something dollars for a freaking oil change I decided things had to change. I got a postcard for NTB’s oil change AND tire rotation for $ 19.95. I phoned first to clarify that it was true and brought my car in. The set up over here is a little funky because they’re not an «oil change place,» but you’d be hard pressed to beat that price! Hope it wasn’t just a fleeting deal because I’d like to return!